Touch
by Arendelle's Drum Major
Summary: It was that day that Anna finally understood why her sister had been avoiding her touch. And it was that day that Anna, the ever-so-stubborn Anna, came up with a plan.


_**A/N: **__Taking a short break from A Date With the Drum Major to participate in Elsanna week. Today's day one, and the prompt is Cuddles. Mostly just sisterly, only incestuous if you tilt your head and squint. Enjoy!_

Touch was difficult for Elsa.

Anna began noticing this shortly after the Great Thaw. Any time she reached out to touch her sister, the older girl immediately shied away. At first, Anna found it incredibly frustrating. After all of these years of wanting to be close to her, she finally had the opportunity and here Elsa was, stepping away from her. The frustration soon grew into fear—what if Elsa was going to shut her out again? One day, Anna vocalized her fear to Elsa. The younger girl had walked up from behind Elsa to put her hand on top of the older girl's and Elsa had retracted her hand as rapidly as if it had been burned.

"Why do you still keep backing away from me?" The question was out before Anna could stop herself. Tears started forming in her eyes. "I thought we were done shutting each other out."

Elsa looked stricken. "Anna, I—of course I'll never shut you out! It's just…" she trailed off, cradling her arms close to her chest. "I just spent so many years living in the fear that my touch could hurt someone and I… I've already hurt you so much." Elsa glanced up at her sister's watery eyes. "I just seem to hurt you no matter what I do."

The two stood there for a while, both of them on the verge of tears but neither making a move toward the other, tendrils of frost spiraling out from Elsa's feet. After what seemed like hours, Elsa's presence was required elsewhere and she left, casting one last look of longing and regret over her shoulder. That night, she cried herself to sleep, a small flurry in her room brought about as a result of her hatred of herself for not being able to give Anna the affection she so desired. For being broken.

It was that day that Anna finally understood why her sister had been avoiding her touch. And it was that day that Anna, the ever-so-stubborn Anna, came up with a plan.

She started slow. Perhaps, when they were chatting, she'd just barely graze her sister's forearm with her fingertips. The first few times, Elsa flinched, but after a while she had no reaction to it. She then moved to gently patting her sister's shoulder. Once again, it was a process, but Elsa once again slowly warmed to Anna's touch. She then took to holding hands, but only when Elsa was wearing gloves—this precaution wasn't because Anna feared Elsa's powers, but rather because she believed Elsa herself might still fear them. Holding hands while gloveless was the next step. Anna waited a long time for this one, but when she finally went for it, Elsa responded by intertwining her fingers with Anna's, her mouth curved into a smile. Anna was so thrilled by this that she skipped the next couple steps entirely and brought her sister into a hug. The older girl stiffened at first, but then relaxed, causing Anna to breathe a sigh of relief.

Cuddling was the final step. As nice as the hugs were (and there had come to be a lot of them), Elsa always pulled away sooner than Anna would have liked. She decided to make her move one night when the two of them were reading by the fireplace in the library. Well, rather, Elsa was reading. Anna was merely pretending to do so as she thought through the best way to go about her plan. Finally, without a word, Anna got to her feet and headed over to the shelves. Elsa raised a curious eyebrow, but quickly resumed reading her book. A few moments later, Anna was in front of her, holding an old book of fairy tales.

"Will you read to me?" she asked, "Like when we were little?" Elsa smiled, putting her book down.

"Of course." She took the tome from Anna. The younger girl quickly sat on the couch beside Elsa. It took Elsa a bit to find the story she was looking for, but she eventually began reading. Only half paying attention to the tale, Anna began slowly inching closer and closer to her sister. After some time, she tentatively rested her head on Elsa's shoulder. No reaction. She started leaning more on her sister. At one point, Elsa stopped reading. Anna froze. She'd messed it all up, she was certain. As she mentally prepared herself for her sister getting up and moving, she suddenly found Elsa's arm around her, pulling her closer. Elsa shifted around a bit, all the while holding the younger girl tightly, until Anna found her head tucked beneath Elsa's. An expression of pure joy on her face, Anna snuggled up to her sister as close as she possibly could, delighting in the closeness. Content, Elsa resumed reading the story.

The staff found them that way the next morning, fast asleep on the sofa. The queen's arm was still draped protectively over Anna, and the young princess had her arms wrapped around Elsa's torso, bringing her in as close as possible. Even in sleep, the two of them were smiling.

Elsa was the first to wake up. It took her a moment to remember why she wasn't in her own bed, but the rhythmic breathing of the still-sleeping Anna quickly reminded her. Her eyes shone with adoration for her younger sister as she whispered,

"Thanks for fixing me."


End file.
